“Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 125,000 jobs.October’s private payrolls were revised slightly down to an increase of 157,000 from the previously reported 158,000,” Reuters reports.

The official Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate will be released on Friday. The Washington Post suggests though that the ADP number is more accurate than the government figures the first time around, the BLS adjusts theirs after the initial release.

“Indeed, a private forecaster, ADP, produces initial estimates that are closer to BLS’s final numbers than BLS itself. Since December 2007, ADP has been off by an average of 69,857 jobs, while BLS itself has been off by an average of 78,694 jobs,” writes the Washington Post.

A Gallup survey supports ADP’s analysis of increased hiring during the month of November. Gallup found private sector hiring slowed, while state and local government hiring increased.

The changes in employment composition may reflect both economic forces and psychological uncertainty about the economy moving forward. Gallup suggests that Washington “may want to consider the downward drift in private-sector hiring and the recovery in state and local government hiring as they debate the nation’s taxing and spending options relative to the ‘fiscal cliff.'”

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